Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube has promised an investigation after a website allegedly began selling access to the results days before they were officially released.
The results were allegedly published on the website of a Johannesburg-based company called Edumarks. The company reportedly offers matric pupils access to their full results, including subjects and percentages, charging R99.90 for the privilege.
At the time of publication, the Edumarks website was offline and inaccessible. TechCentral was unable to reach the company for comment.
Social activist Yusuf Abramjee first published the allegations on X on Saturday, questioning the integrity of the exam process and demanding answers from the department of basic education (DBE).
Abramjee shared a screenshot of a pupil’s results, allegedly obtained through the Edumarks websites, highlighting the potential for a serious breach of security.
Some users complained about Edumarks on Trustpilot, a review platform, saying they had paid for their results but hadn’t received them. Others professed they were pleased to receive their results ahead of their official publication.
Quoted on Monday by TimesLive (paywall), the Foundation for Education and Social Justice’s Hendrick Makaneta said it was “deeply troubling” that Edumarks is allegedly selling the matric results before the DBE officially releases them. He called for an investigation, urging the DBE and the Special Investigating Unit to intervene to ensure transparency and accountability.
Hawks ‘enlisted’
On Monday, Gwarube, the basic education minister, warned that the alleged leak will be investigated fully.
“The Hawks have been enlisted and are all over the matter,” she told a media briefing. “We are investigating at DBE … and if the process comes from our side, then we will deal with it. If the breach has come from the act of sharing the results with certain stakeholders, which we need to do for seamless distribution of the results, then we will deal with that, because that means we need to tighten our processes. If we’ve been victim of a cybercrime, then we [will deal] with it through state security and the Hawks.”
Meanwhile, the Information Regulator has also weighed in on the Edumarks scandal. It said in a statement late on Monday that it is “concerned that the personal information of data subjects may have been unlawfully accessed and compromised”.
It said it has written to the DBE to “request confirmation of the incident” and given its urgency has asked for a response by this Thursday.
Read: Truecaller may face Popia probe by Information Regulator
“Any unlawful access to, and usage of, personal information of data subjects is treated with extreme seriousness and concern by the regulator. The security compromise of learners’ personal information under the custody of the DBE is no different,” the Information Regulator said.
The controversy over Edumarks follows a recent high court ruling in favour of the DBE that allowed for the publication of the matric results in the media. It followed a legal dispute with the Information Regulator, which had sought to prevent the public release of the 2024 results, saying it would be in violation of the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia). The regulator argued that publishing individual names and results would constitute a breach of privacy.
The DBE maintained that publishing results in the media was a long-standing tradition and a crucial means of informing students, parents and the public about educational outcomes.
Ultimately, the court considered the public interest in accessing the results and the potential negative impact on pupils if publication were to be halted, leading to the ruling in favour of the DBE. — (c) 2025 NewsCentral Media
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